Friday 10 May 2013

Friday Reading: Luke 14:12-14

Key Verse: Luke 14:14
14  And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

Devotion:
This sounds like a very strange request from Jesus when we first read it because we think of feasts and parties as being times when friends and families can get together and enjoy themselves – and that is what we practice. But Jesus is rather planting a new thought into our heads, one that needs to be there to break us out of our comfort zones and make us think of others.

When Jesus said that we should love our enemies it was another time to get us to stop and think about our relationship with others. When we start to put ideas like this together we then get to see the whole picture – or at least begin to when we open our eyes! God is trying to get us to see that we need to be there for others, no matter what! We always place requirements and constraints on everything that we do because we always want to get something out of what we are doing – but that is not what Christ wants us to see and do.

Jesus came into this world to give everything freely. He came to give it all away knowing that we would never truly be able to pay Him back. He does not ask anything back and He does not require anything back; instead He gave it all to us freely and openly. When we begin to take that idea on and to give to others freely and openly we then begin to see what love is about and what Jesus meant when He said we should love others. I used to struggle with doing things for some people because I took offense at what they stood for or what they did; but as I grow in my walk with God I continue to be able to just stand up and do things for others, no matter what.

I don’t look for anything in return when I go forward in Christ’s name now. I don’t require that people do something for me in return. I certainly don’t look for reward from God’s work. What I get from God is so much more precious than any payment. I get His love and His peace and His comfort; together they give me a life that no amount of money or reward could ever give me. Look to fulfil your lot for God and don’t look to fulfil your pocket – they just don’t go together…

Points to Ponder:
What rewards do you seek in life?

Where would you be if Christ did not give everything?